Portable concrete batcher



F.- J. MECHAM 2,896,771" PORTABLE CONCRETE BATCHER.

v v: 3 S s-sheet 1 Filed July 3, 1957 INVENTOR July 28, 1959 ,v F J ME HAM $896,771

A PORTABLE CONCRETEBATCHER Filed July 3, ,1957 Z- SheetS-Sheet z INVENTOR: F. J. MEcHAM ATTORNEY United w we This invention pertains to batching equipment, and in particular to a batcher for preparing and delivering i properly measured ingredients to vehicular concrete mixers.

The use of ready-mixed or transit-mixed concrete has become a commonplace in the construction industry. conventionally, construction jobs within a given region are served by one or more plants, usually centrally located, at which the necessary ingredients for the desired concrete specifications are delivered into the mixing trucks, which are then dispatched to the construction job, the mixing taking place during transit. Such plants are of course fairly extensive and well-equipped, and to the extent that the delivery radius is not too great, such operations are relatively economical and efficient. However, it is a fact that a large percentage of the mass of finished concrete is plain water, and for jobs located remote from the central batching plant, the delivery cost (and time) may rise to prohibitive levels. This is true not only for construction work which may be going on in an intensified way in a suburban or remote area some distance from the batching plant, but is of course always a factor in road construction and similar projects. Except for the very largest jobs, dam construction or-the like, the establishment of a complete fixed batching plant near the site is also prohibitive. 4 r i The present invention has for its principal object the provision of a portable batching plant for such transitmixed concrete production, which is arranged .to be driven or usually towed, by a truck, "tractor 'or other prime mover, to a location which will be central with reference to a particular construction job, and which will bring to such operations the accuracy, convenience and economy of the usual batching plant, but without requiring the actual building of such an elaborate installation, or the acquiring of a suitable fixed site for the batcher. Aggregate, cement and water are delivered to the portable batcher at its spotted location, either by roadway vehicles, rail spurs, pipe lines or the usual facilities, and the batcher receives such materials and provides a convenient, fast and accurate means for depositing the proper quantities of such ingredients into the mixing and delivery trucks.

Another object of the invention is to provide a portable or roadable concrete batcher of the type described, in which special provision is made for its intended operation in locations exposed to the weather, particularly to the wind, which would tend to blow away the finely ground cement in particular.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a batcher having the above features and including powered means for elevating and lifting the desired ingredients directly into the mixing truck, but in which the size of the necessary conveyor for this purpose does not preclude the ready movement of the plant itself, when required, to a new location over existing roads with normal clearances.

The above and other objects and advantages of the but more clearly illustrating the transfer invention are in general achieved by providing a wheeled vehicle with a hopper of the weighing type arranged to receive sand, grave] or other ingredients suitable for the aggregate, and provided with spaced discharge gates for directing the hopper contents onto an upwardly traveling belt conveyor, together with an auxiliary cement hopper and conveyor arranged to receive the contents of bags of cement and to deliver them onto the same belt conveyor, but between the discharge gates of the aggregate hopper, whereby the-ingredients can then be elevated to the mixing truck hatch without any danger of loss of the finely powdered cement in the wind. Provision is also made for metering an exact quantity of water into the mixing truck, at the point of discharge of the belt conveyor, so-that the entire operation-can readily be controlled by a single operator at a control station.

The preferred apparatus constituting the invention, and-its ,manner of operation, will .best be understood by referring now to the following detailed specification, taken-in connection with the, appended drawings, in

which: i Fig. 1 is a side elevational view, partly broken away, of a portable batcher in accordance with the invention.

Fig. 2 isa rear elevation of the same.

Fig. 3 is schematic view, oriented the same as Fig. 2, of materials onto the main conveyor belt.

'In Fig. l, numeral 10 designates the main horizontal framework of a batcher in accordance with the invention, the framework or chassis being provided with road wheels of which one is indicated at 12, and a tow hitch as at 14. When located for actual operations, the framework or chassis is supported from the ground by auxiliary jack legs such as at 16 and 18, these of course being duplicated at the opposite side of the frame. Suitably carried by the chassis 10 is a slanting belt conveyor or elevator generally indicated by 20, preferably hinged as at '22 so that the upper part 24 may be swung back to the position indicated 'in dash lines whenever the machine is to be moved as by a towing vehicle attached to hitch 14. The belt conveyor 20' is itself wholly conventional, including frame members 26 carrying rollers 28 which support the canvas or like flexible belt 30 passing at its ends over suitable face or slat pulleys (such as 32 the upper pulley being power driven as by an electric motor 34 mounted on the belt conveyor frame and controlled as by a pushbutton station 36. A belt drive 38 and gear reducer 40 are indicated in Fig. 1, but any equivalent belt powering means may be substituted.

Also carried upon the chassis 10 is a weighing hopper 42, mounted for limited vertical motion under the load of aggregate (sand, gravel or the like) which it contains, and provided with a weighing scale 44 to enable the operator to determine the amount discharged or on hand. At its lower end, hopper 42 is provided with a pair of discharge gates 46, 48, linked together by links 50 and jointly controlled by an operating handle 52 located conveniently for an operator at the control station 54 having the pushbutton control 36 as well as others to be described.

As the main conveyor belt travels upward in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 1, opening of gates 46 and 48 permits two streams of aggregate to discharge onto belt 30 at points spaced along its travel direction. In a manner to be described below, the finely ground or powdered Portland cement will be discharged onto the belt 30 at a point 56 disposed between the discharge points of the gates 46 and 48. This arrangement provides two important advantages: first, the fact that the cement is immediately covered over by a layer of aggregate discharged from the upper one of the two gates, eliminates any possibility that the cement will be lost due to wind action, with consequent deviation of the finished concrete from the desired formula, and second, the placement of the cement in effect in the central stratum of the aggregate aids in the desired thorough distribution of the cement through the aggregate.

While it might seem that wind protection could be achieved merely by depositing the cement on the belt first, and then covering it with a single stream of aggregate, the present invention takes advantage of the more thorough preliminary distribution obtained by the arrangement as described. Moreover, in wet weather, the canvas belt 30 will become'saturated, and if fresh cement were to be deposited thereon, considerable quantities of it might be retained thereon instead of being delivered into the mixing truck. The arrangement described is considered optimum for the intended purposes. 7 The control station 54 includes an additional start-stop pushbutton control 58 by which the operator controls the operation of a water pump 60 connected to any suitable water supply, as by a hose not shown, and delivering water through an indicating meter 62 to a hose 64 secured to the side of conveyor frame 26, its discharge end at 66 being disposed to enter the transit mixer hatch into which the belt conveyor also discharges. Finally, control station 54 includes a push-button control 68 for controlling the motor of a cement feeding auxiliary conveyor now to be described.

Fig. 2 of the drawings shows a rear view of the entire of said hopper spaced from one another in the direction position of use, and lifting hooks 78 are preferably pro- 9 It will be seen from the'above that the construction illustrated and described satisfies the objects of the invention in an eflicient and desirable way, but it is to be understood that the principles of the invention can be carried out by apparatus of other forms. The invention is therefore not to be considered as limited to the details shown and described, except as may be required by the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A portable concrete batching plant comprising a wheeled framework, a power-operated elevating belt conveyor mounted on said framework, a hopper for aggregate carried' by said framework with its lower discharge end disposed above a lower portion of said conveyor, a pair of flow-controlling discharge gates at thebottc-rn of'belt movement to deposit aggregate thereon from said hopper in two layers, a second hopper for pulverulent cement, and a cement conveyor positioned to receive cement from said second hopper and having its discharge end between said gates to deposit cement upon the aggremachine, including an outrigged hopper 70 to receive cement from bags as they are manually dumped therein, although bulk cement could equally 'be used. The lower portion of hopper 70 is formed as a trough in which operates a conveyor such as the screw conveyor 72, operating to raise the cement upwards and towards the centerline of the batcher; i.e., to the right in Fig. 2. A motor 74 drives the conveyor screw, and as mentioned above is controlled from the central control panel 54 of Fig. 1. As shown in dash lines in Fig. 2, the discharge end at 76 of the cement hopper conveyor lies over main conveyor belt 30, and in the fore-and-aft direction is placed between the discharges of the aggregate hopper gates as already described. This relationship is more clearly shown in Fig. 3, which shows the positions of the cement hopper, the main belt 30, and its lower pulley 32.

Preferably, the cement hopper is arranged to be disconnected from the rest of the vehicle during its movements from place to place. While it could be pivoted in place, it is preferably made to slide in and out of its gate issued from one gate and beneath the aggregate issuing from the other gate; whereby the pulverulent cement is protected from Wind action during transport of the mixture by said elevating belt conveyor.

2. A batching plant in accordance with claim 1, including means under the control of anoperator for concomitantly opening and closing said gates. 6'. A batching plant in accordance with claim 1, in which said cement conveyor is disposed with its cementreceiving end lower than the lowermost point reached by said belt conveyor, to elevate cement for discharge at the stated point on the belt conveyor.

References Cited inthe file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

